Dorset councillor in standards investigation after "all Muslims are terrorists" complaint

Local paper, the Western Gazette, reports on councillor Marjorie Snowden of Sherborne in Dorset, who has been found by the Standards Committee of West Dorset District Council to have breached the code of conduct after equalities trainers alleged she “made remarks which were clearly hostile to the Muslim community and bordering on religious hatred, identifying all Muslims as terrorists.”

The paper reports “The allegations relate to an equalities and diversity training session held at West Dorset District Council on June 28, 2012, which Mrs Snowden attended as a district councillor, a post she has held for more than ten years.”

According to complaints lodged by two local council officials, Ms Snowden made derogatory remarks about Muslims and is also said to have asked “Why should we be interested in black history?”

Ms Snowden denied the allegations as “completely unfounded” but investigating officer, Roger Greene concluded that there was “no option but to find that Councillor Snowden did breach the code of conduct”.

In a similar incident last month, a councillor in Enfield, north London, was suspended by the local Conservative Association after posting offensive remarks on a Facebook page comparing the children of a Muslim woman in niqab to bin bags.